Treatment of fibrous materials.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM AIFRED DICKINSON, OF MITCHAM. ENGLAND.

TREATMENT OF FIBItOUS MATERIALS.

No Drawing.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. \VILLIAM Armani) Drcmxsox, bedding mamtfacturer.residing at Grove Mills. Mitcham. in the. county of Surrey. England,have invented certain new and useful Improvements iii 'lreatment ofFibrous Materials; andl do hereby declare the following to be a full.clear. and exact description of the invention. such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of horse hairand other animal hair substitutes from coir and similar vegetable husksor fibers, and has for its objects the special treatment of the fiberwhtZ-reby a curled and springy product is obtained that has an alniostexactly similar coloring and like physical properties as hair but whichcan be produced commercially at a crmsiderabl)"lesser cost than that at.which curled and manufactured hair can be sold. .\t-,the present timesuch substitutes a'e now produced in the curled state and while readilyanswering their purpose for bedding 'and similar applications theydo-not have a sui'licient "'life if constantly used. nor is theirappearance all that can be desired, the mass of curled libeisappcaritieven when dyed and varnished to be of a dull and lifeless colorinsteadof lustrous and permanently resilient.

Now, according to this invent-ion, the fiber, after being unbaled, isspread out and goes through a process of selecting or hand picking. theselected fibers being placed in a vat and allowed to boil for one hourin a solution of alkali consisting of:80 pounds of caustic soda to 1570gallons of water. This treatment has the ett'ect of depriving the fiberof its/resinous and gummy properties. and leaving it in a"cleanscd,tractable, and tougher condition, the process.entirely removingthetemlency of the fiber to snap. Tho fiber remains in the vat foatleast six hours after boilinm After re'moval from the alkali \:t thefiber is'allowed -to remain 1 .Y I on a, draining board and chill. 1'1he fiber is now ready for bleaching, aiid'dyeing,

The fiber to be bleached 'is taken warm l from the alkzli -'at ;and itssuperfluous moisture ren'ulved ina liydroextractor, from tt'hen ce it"is placed in a chlorinating'vessel.

amt/subjected ,while waifin and moist to the action of chlorin -izameansibe n g proyided for "frequently sti'i'ring the mass 'o't' fibersSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 20. 1911. Serial No. 603,758.

Patented July 18, 191.1.

until the reddish color has disappeared from i the exterior when the gasis dra n tilt and the l fibers extracted and washed in a weak solutionfrom the alkali bath before referred to. Only a small proportion of anybatch of fibers are bleached, the remainder of the batch being readyafter they have been removed from the alkali wit and cooled to be placedin the dyeing vat. About 500 lbs. of fiber -an be dyed at a time in anyone tank and this quantity is allowed to soak in a cold solution of :100lbs. copperas (sulfate of iron). 35 lbs. sumac. 30 lbs. logwood, and thecontents of the tank brought gradually to the boiling point. I

If the fiber is cleansed it. will. require to boil for two hours, ifuncleansed it must be left to soak for six hours at least beforeboiling. The fiber so treated is now pnlled up from the vat and drained.w

After one treatment the same bath may be usedag-ain for another 500lbs-of fiber if 5 replenished with :75 lbs. copper-as, lbs. lsumac, 20lbs. logwood. The fibers from l't'he bleaching vessel and the dyedfibers are now mixed in the proportion of about one of bleached fiber toten of dyedt fiber, and in this state are wetand in clumps. These clumpsrequire to be dried and teased out.

The drying consists in passing the fibers through a hydroextractor andthen plat-inc the fiber in a screw feeding trough, hot air being forcedinto the trough against the action of the screw. The fiber is now almostdry, but the action of the screw feed is insulticient to break up theclumps of fiber. This is effected by feeding the' tiber on to a seriesof shaking trays thatopen the clumps and by placing steam pipes beneaththe trays the, fiber is completely dried and loosened when it is readyfor the process of polishing. This process consists of hath made up asfol]ows:--7O lbs. of glue; H lbs. acetic acid. 11 lbs. 10 oks. ofnigrosin (appmximately (b ll llSfl These ingrcdicnts are mixed with 100gallons of water in which is poured 1; lbs. oleic acid, {,thcavholebeing brought to boiling point I and the bleached and the dyed fibersmixed, )laced in the bath where they remain for a i l sliort while andare stirred at in rvals of' y say once per minute. They are tale-u fromi the bath and left on a drying board so that. I the superfluous polishwill drain away into the bath. One. half tonof fiber can be steepingthedried and loosened fiber into a i treated in this manner at a timeandagita- 'tlon 1S absolutely necessary as ndicated to.

acter but av finer tooth than the preceding.

one, the final operation of this machine being that of brushing thefibers so that the product leaves the machine with an externallustrousfinish. The bleached fibers during this latter process aredeprived of some of their coatin 'j V1110 them a ravish a z: 1% s g ,Ppearance as a result of part of the varnish not adhering or beingbrushed oft in the carding machine, and the admixture of thebleachedwith the dyed fibers gives the whole mass of fiber after suchtreatment an appearance exactly similar to horse hair Whose color isapproximately made up of gray and black or dark hair.

After the fibers are card d they are twisted in a rope which isafterward made up into 5 cwt. (five hundredweight) hanks and the hanksare then steeped into water and baked for some hours. This has. theresult of imparting a permanent curl to the fibers when they are shakenout from the dry hanksythe material being then ready for the market.

In order to render the fibers non-inflammable there may be added to thefirst dye batl1:-Sodium borate 25 lbs. (commercial borax). Sulfate ofammonia 25 lbs. (pure crystals). This quantity is suflicient to treatthe first hatchet six hundredweights. A second quantity may be treatedin the same bath by reinforcing the solution with :So dium borate 15lbs. Sulfate of ammonia I am aware that the recipe asses? 15 lbs. And athird quantity by the addition of:Sodium borate 10 lbs. Sulfate ofammonia 10 lbs. The bleached fiber may be in like manner maden.oninfiammable by dipping in a clean bath containing in. solution theabove ingredients.

for the varnish is old in connection with fiber polishing and to such Ido not lay any claim, but

What I do claim is 1. A process for making. artificial hair,

which consists in first treating vegetable husks or fibers with analkaline solution'to remove resinous matter and to toughen the fibers,then bleaching one portion of the fibers and dyeing the remainingportion, then mixing together and drying the bleached and the dyedfibers, then treating the mixed fibers with polishing material, and thencarding and brushing the fibers to remove superfluous polishing materialand to give the fibers a lustrous finish.

2. A process'tor making artificial hair} which consists in firsttreating vegetable husks or fibers with an alkaline solution to removeresinous matter and to toughen the fibers, then bleaching one portion ofthe fibers and dyeing the remaining portion, then mixin together anddrying the bleached anc the dyed fibers, then treating the mixed fiberswith polishing material, then cardin and brushing the fibers to re-,move super uous polishing material and to give the fibers a lustrousfinish, then twisting the carded fibers into ropes, then steeping theropes in water, then drying the ropes to give the fibers a permanentset, and finally loosening up the dried and twisted fibers.

I In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM ALFRED DICKINSON.

Witnesses:

H. D. Jameson, L. E. Bomm.

